X-Men: First Class Shows 8 Ways to Beat the Reboot Jinx

X-Men: First Class breathes fresh life into an aging superhero film franchise. But what are the secrets to its success?

This is notably tricky business, after all — just ask Bryan Singer. The man who directed the first two X-Men movies in 2000 and 2002 skipped the third in order to helm the cinematic relaunch of Superman, a film franchise suffering sequel fatigue in the wake of Christopher Reeves’ one good entry in 1978.

But the Superman restoration fell flat. Waiter-turned-actor Brandon Routh seemed like a nice-enough guy, but the star of 2006’s Superman Returns lacked chemistry with Lois Lane (played by Kate Bosworth), while Kevin Spacey’s take on villain Lex Luthor failed to redeem the soggy love story. Who knows where Zack Snyder will take DC Comics’ most famous crime-fighter in next year’s planned reboot, Man of Steel.

The Incredible Hulk has suffered similarly at the movies. 2008’s not so incredible Hulk reboot ran into the same problem as the first Hulk film, expecting audiences to root for a dour rage-o-maniac.

Batman, by contrast, got resuscitated in grand fashion by Christopher Nolan. Ignoring its jokey predecessor — 1997’s Batman & Robin — Nolan and star Christian Bale played up the mythos of the Dark Knight as a haunted antihero driven to avenge the death of his parents in 2005’s Batman Begins.

And we all know what happened with The Dark Knight, the gold standard by which comic book movies are now judged.

Which brings us back to X-Men: First Class, which opens Friday. Designed to predate the trilogy that concluded in 2006 with Brett Ratner’s noisy X-Men: The Last Stand, the latest movie based on Marvel Comics’ mutants succeeds as a primer in how to do reboots right.

1. Strike the right tone: Director Matthew Vaughn, having demonstrated a knack for blending comedy with dark action sequences in Kick-Ass and the stylishly violent Layer Cake, orchestrates a large ensemble with a deft hand, throwing just enough frisky teen energy into the mix to keep the grown-ups on their toes.

2. Find the right lead: First Class has a lot of moving parts, with a half-dozen main mutants bearing conflicting agendas. Gluing all the pieces together is James McAvoy, who stars as suave Oxford telepath Charles Xavier (portrayed in the original movies by Patrick Stewart). Just as Bale refreshed the Batman film franchise by playing a brooding version of Bruce Wayne with absolute conviction, so McAvoy convinces as the galvanizing force that leads the mutant crew.

3. Tell an origins story: Rounding up misfits and training them to become an elite fighting force works almost every time. First Class sustains momentum beyond its shocking concentration camp setup featuring the film’s other hero, Magneto, thanks to the coltish enthusiasm injected by mutants who finally get to quit hiding their powers and unite for a higher cause. The colorful cast of characters includes Hank McCoy, aka Beast (Nicholas Hoult), Angel (Zoë Kravitz), Havok (Lucas Till), Banshee (Caleb Landry Jones), Dawin (Edi Gathegi) and Riptide (Álex González).

4. Exploit James Bond–style ’60s cool: In a production note, director Vaughn summed up First Class as “X-Men meets the Cuban Missile Crisis meets James Bond.” Dig the reverb-guitar soundtrack and chic drinks. Setting the story in 1962 not only lends historic heft to the plot, but gives costume designers an excellent excuse to style the lingerie-clad January Jones as a latter-day Barbarella in her role as sexy telepath Emma Frost.

6. Go big with the supporting players: Oscar-nominated Jennifer Lawrence infuses soul and yearning as the shape-shifting Mystique, as she embodies the central X-Men theme: Why should mutants have to hide their true selves?

7. Revenge is sweet, so write it into the story:Michael Fassbender plays Magneto (portrayed by Ian McKellen in the original X-Men trilogy) with a steely force that culminates in a coin-tossing moment of poetic justice when he finally catches up with his concentration-camp tormenter.

Spoiler alert: The final item reveals something you might not want to know prior to seeing the movie.

8. Get a fan fave to cameo: In a first-class First Class cameo, Hugh “Wolverine” Jackman chomps on a cigar and snarls, “Fuck you” at the heroes.